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Some like it HOT

Yes, my friends – I do mean this! This recipe should come with a ‘health warning’. This dish is really delicious, but …. If you cannot stand the heat (and have to leave the kitchen), you will have to tone down drastically on the chilies – green and red! Although they are of course a vital part of this dish.

Yesterday we had one of our busy ‘running around in town’ days and because it was already way past our normal Lunchtime we decided to pop into the Grand Hotel on MG Road. We both felt like having a little chili kick so we ordered this dish which their Executive Chef Joseph happily made for us and he also shared his recipe with me and my readers. And don’t you like his decoration on my plate? The Grand Hotel is on nearly every foreign tourists ‘I-must-visit’ list and not only the foreign visitors flock to this Hotel, but most Indians from the North and further South, when they are in Cochin, will come here, because this place is famous for their variety of fish specialties – Kerala style!

Hydrabadi Pickled Beef

(Hydrabadi Acchar Erachi)

1 kg Beef, washed, cut into medium cubes

4 tsp red Chili powder

2 Tbsp Ginger/Garlic paste

3 tsp of coriander powder and jeerakam (cumin), made into a paste

6 Lemon, juice of ……

6 twigs of curry leaves

6 green chilies cut into 2

Salt to taste

For Tempering

2 tsp jeerakam (cumin)

½ tsp of black jeeakam (black cumin)

6 dry red chilies

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp Uluva (fenugreek)

60 ml vegetable oil

METHOD

Take your washed and cubed beef and dry thoroughly (best in a clean Tea-Towel) and keep aside.

Take pot with a thick bottom and put all the above ingredients from the first set (NOT the one for tempering!) and mix well! After this add the beef and with your clean hands mix everything well into each other, really squeezing , so that any juices/aroma get mixed with the meat.

Cover and first cook on high heat and later continue on low heat until it is cooked to your liking.

It is most important however that you keep stirring to make sure, nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. If it nevertheless does, don’t use more oil but just sprinkle (with your fingers) a little water onto your Beef.

TIPS:

This dish is also very good using chicken (skin removed and medium cubed ).

DON’T ever try to cook this in a pressure cooker – it just will not work.

To get the very best result you have to make sure nothing will ever stick to the bottom of the pot.

This dish will go well with Appam, Chapatti, Naan or Basmati Rice.

PS: This will be appearing on our Dining Table for Sunday Lunch. Those of you, my friends, who wish to share with us, are invited. lol